Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Heat failed to stop Brandon Ingram and got crushed in Toronto

Part two of the miniseries in Toronto didn’t get ugly until the second quarter and then it was worse than a direct-to-video sequel. Brandon Ingram mercilessly sprayed jumpers, plus Collin Murray-Bowles, who finished with a perfect seven-for-seven from field, out-hustled every Heatle to extend plays and blow up sets. 

Bam Adebayo was so frustrated he uncharacteristically shoved Jakob Poeltl after getting tangled up, and the Raptors’ lead soon swelled to 26 points in the third quarter. They subsequently loosened up, and the Heat sliced the deficit to six before the hosts got serious about waxing them again. 

Scottie Barnes created the snowball effect with a trifecta and a fastbreak layup and the visitors soon yielded. 

The Heat lost 128-114, but it felt wider than that. Coach Erik Spoelstra said, “I don’t have the answers right now. We are searching…” 

Adebayo did all he could, totaling 14 of 24 points in the lane with 11 rebounds and eight assists. And Davion Mitchell had a double-double (15 points, 11 assists), too, but their impact was nullified by Toronto’s activity in the lane and superior outside shooting. 

Still, for as bad it looked, the Heat have somehow logged 22 worse defensive ratings this season. It wasn’t their game plan on most nights, but rather not being able to match the other team’s talent. 

There’s no way coach Erik Spoelstra can have any hope of finding “a way to overcome” when every game lately has been a struggle. Perhaps this time after the team has been finished off will it make management wise up, finally going in a different route. 

When looking back on this year, the biggest positives will be the development of Pelle Larsson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakučionis. The heaviest negatives will be not enough consistency from Kel’el Ware, the Tyler Herro and Norman Powell backcourt being a failure, and wasting a season of Adebayo’s prime.